On
September 28, 2016, the U.S. Congress passed the Justice Against Sponsors of
Terrorism Act (JASTA), which enables U.S. citizens affected by terrorism to
file lawsuits against countries found to be involved in those actions. Thus,
U.S. citizens affected by 9/11 will be able to file lawsuits in U.S. courts
against Saudi Arabia for its suspected involvement in those attacks.

The passage of JASTA has been harshly criticized by Saudi
authorities, who warned that the new law circumvents the most important
principle of international relations - the principle of sovereign immunity,
which protects countries against lawsuits in foreign courts - adding that JASTA
would have negative ramifications for bilateral relations. This criticism was
also expressed in dozens of articles in the Saudi press.[1]

The Saudi rage over JASTA was also evident in numerous
cartoons in the Saudi press, which depicted the U.S. as using JASTA to target
the Arab and Islamic world and to threaten the entire globe, and also as
harming itself and its relations with other countries. Additionally, some
cartoons expressed the Saudi argument that one of the new law's aims was
financial gain at the Saudis' expense by confiscating billions in Saudi assets,
bonds, and currency reserves in the U.S. to fund restitution to Americans
impacted by 9/11.[2]